vintage sign letters are up finally!

19 Jan

Well, it took us FOREVER! I first mentioned this project WAY back in August here…I have seen vintage letters used for decor and it was something I’ve really been wanting to try. So, we decided to spell our last name “Banks” with vintage letters. I found all of the letters on Etsy (search for ‘letter B’ for example). The letters all sat on our kitchen counter for a long time as I debated where to hang them and what to do with the pink “A”. We nixed the idea of hanging them above our front door because we were worried with a little door slamming that one may fall down on someone’s head. So, we decided we needed something in our staircase. With the “A” I decided to flip it around and spray it canary yellow. I love how it turned out, it’s bold while all of the other letters are a little more neutral. I still want to do something more interesting with our stairwell area, but this is a good start I think!

BEFORE

AFTER

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happy new year! (and happy new sectional)

1 Jan

First of all, wanted to wish everyone who drops by our little home remodeling blog  a Happy New Year! We have a big long list of fun and not so fun things that we want to do to our abode this year, so stay tuned! We plan to finish a lot of little odds and ends on our punch list, as well as really begin making the downstairs areas of our house what we want them to be.

In the meantime, I wanted to post some photos of our sectional, which arrived just in time for Christmas and our hosting my family at our house. It really got broken in – my brother and his wife brought an air mattress to sleep on but ended sleeping on the sectional instead, and loved it! And fell asleep on it while lounging during the day as we were cooking, so I’d say it was a hit!

So, a few things about it:

  • It is the Build a Sofa Oliver 2 piece sectional. It is HUGE. It pretty much takes up our entire living room (which is not very large to begin with). But, I am ok with that since this room is primarily for lounging/hanging out. It’s where we spend 95% of our time upstairs as a family. If you’re curious to know the exact dimensions, it is 96″ long on the shorter side (the side that is against the wall) and 122″ long on the longer side.
  • We got medium density cushions and we think they are perfect. Looking forward to breaking them in a bit but I think the firm would have just been too dense for our liking. We like to lounge…
  • We chose the light black stain option for the feet.
  • We selected 2 long bench seats with tufting for the base cushions. Love the streamlined look.
  • We also chose to have arms on both ends – we wanted it to be like 2 sofas put together, not just a sofa and a chaise…
  • The fabric is avalon pewter, and it is one of the base (grade A) fabrics. We love it, it looks luxurious and expensive (to us)!

And now for some pics! Here is an overall shot of the room”

build a sofa oliver sectionalcloser in

linus and moo ALWAYS find a way to get into my pics. yet when i want them to pose for me, they won’t do it. go figure.

below: box from Homegoods, coffee table from Four Hands Home

below: the fabric is a little more of a neutral gray which was hard to capture in the mixed lighting of our living room

rug: Angela Adams

below: peacock and turquoise and white pillows from Homegoods (last year), round pillows from Hobby Lobby, yellow lamp from Homegoods (also last year), side table from CB2

below: our display nook

below: frame from Homegoods, whale diffuser from Jonathan Adler for HSN line

below: handmade wall art made from leftover plywood painted yellow and leftover walnut scraps from our kitchen remodel, displayed on shelf is a piece by Misha Blaise

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holiday craft projects!

22 Dec

Our Build a Sofa sectional arrived yesterday, and I was so happy that it arrived in time for all of our holiday company! I am cooking my first turkey tomorrow for my family, wish me luck. I may need it. 

I haven’t taken a proper photo of the sectional but I will tomorrow morning once our house is all clean and pretty for the family we have coming for Christmas! It is amazing, and huge. I LOVE it, everything about it. It is pretty much my dream sectional (if I could afford a Jonathan Adler sectional that would be my dream sectional).So, photos coming of that next week!

In the meantime, I wanted to post my cute holiday crafts. I’m crafty at heart but haven’t had a lot of time for crafts lately. But every once in a while I get an itch I need to scratch. Especially with Pinterest now, I have so many cool ideas pinned to my crafting board it was time to finally try a few!

My first craft was trying a no sew tree skirt. I can sew if I have to, but usually I don’t have the patience for it. I used the tutorial on this site, but modified it a bit to make only three ruffles and I also added some decorative ribbon edging. It came out pretty cute for an hour long Sunday morning quick craft!

and below is our tree, with Moo sneaking in the bottom corner of the pic!

My second little craft project was inspired by this wreath that I also found on Pinterest. I didn’t actually use this tutorial and winged it, but if you need a more detailed tutorial that looks to be a good one.

Materials:

a foam wreath (size of your choosing)

your choice and color in yarn (I chose a turquoise yarn with metallic silver specs) – you could also use two or even three different yarn color

some felt or leftover material to make your flowers and/or accent ribbon to finish it off

hot glue gun to glue on your flowers

Instructions:

Start wrapping your yarn around the wreath. It’s pretty much impossible to keep it straight, so just do it randomly wrapping several times and making sure none of the wreath base is showing thru. A few times my yarn got tangled and I had to cut it, detangle, and start wrapping again.

Once you’ve covered the entire wreath, you’re ready to add embellishments. I added some felt and silk remnant fabric flowers I had made a few months ago, and then accented it with some ribbon I had leftover from a while back. Here is the result, I love it!

I had another tutorial written up for my sweater vases with glitter branches, but wordpress ate all of the rest of my post! ACK!! Anyways, here are the pics – I just found some old glass vases that were collecting dust in a cabinet, bought a couple cheap sweaters at Goodwill, stuck the sleeve of the sweater around the vase (making sure it was a right fit) and cut to size (leaving about 1/2″ allowance on both ends, and then hot glued the sweater in place. Then, I found some old sticks in the yard and glitter spray painted them (Krylon makes a good one) to decorate the vases. Here is the result, I love it!

 

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our next big plans…

16 Dec

So, as we’re waiting for our new sectional sofa to arrive we have been making some more renovation plans. People are always asking us if we are done with our remodeling – the truth is we will probably never be done making changes to this house for as long as we live here. I think it is our nature. It seems to be a bit of a curse and a blessing at the same time (definitely a curse to our bank account!). We are relatively satisfied with the main level of our house (which consists of our entry, kitchen, dining, main living area, laundry, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and my office. Well, ok I take that back we still have quite a few things to do up there. We actually made a punch list the other day which I will share soon…it is a little daunting. I really want to do some work in my office – but that is sort of last on the list of course.

But,with the new year we are starting to focus on the downstairs area of our house which consists of our master bedroom, master bathroom, and the den/wet bar. When we first moved into our house almost 3 1/2 years ago (cannot believe it has been that long!) we did a few quick fixes to make that area livable – since it is where we would be spending all of our time while we renovated the upstairs. Those quick fixes involved removing all of the carpeting in the den and master bedroom, hiring a contractor to polish/seal the concrete floors, having some patching/cracks repaired in the drywall, repainting the walls, and installing all new trim.

Our den currently – with original stone fireplace wall.

Once we finished the bulk  of our renovations upstairs, we really started spending the majority of our time up there and to be honest, were so sick of spending so much time downstairs while we renovated that we sort of avoided the whole area (except of course our bedroom) for the past year or so. We really aren’t happy with the way the concrete floors look downstairs – they look dirty and unfinished. We had a pretty poor experience with the contractor we hired for this and could not recommend him. So, we have big plans for the downstairs that include but knowing us aren’t limited to:

  • Installing laminate flooring – I was originally really against laminate flooring because I thought it looked cheap. But, lately I’ve been impressed with the selection and look of the options I  have seen, and I love how durable it is. Our hardwood floors upstairs have turned out to not be very durable, which has been disappointing. We found a few options we love. More to come on that soon.
  • Redo the wet bar – including repainting (white), new knobs, new concrete countertop (hopefully DIYed), new sink and faucet, and tile backsplash from leftover renovation tile.
  • Drywall repairs/patching and possible removal of all popcorn downstairs.
  • Replace white tile in master bathroom with concrete resurfacing as well as countertop in master bath

Here is our groovy wet bar that needs some work. It served as our kitchen the entire time we renovated upstairs.

Our groovy master bathroom. The white tile gets dirty so easily, so we want to remove it and resurface the concrete.

Our master bedroom

The sitting area in our master bedroom is awesome but VERY unfinished!

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in search of the perfect gray sectional

28 Nov

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a lovely four day weekend and I finally had some time off from shooting and editing! Now, it’s Monday so back to the grind!

I have been wanting to do a post about finding a sectional. This is our main living area now. The area where the sofa is used to be the dining room – separated from the old kitchen by a wall which we took down (see photo below). When we renovated, we loved the idea of having our kitchen and main living area all sort of connected…since the kitchen really is the heart of our house. This setup works great for our daily living with the three of us (Mike, myself, and Zoey) but isn’t as functional when we have gatherings – we really need more seating in the living room, because since it is so close to the kitchen it really is where everyone congregates. So, the sofa you see pictured will be moving down into the lounge area of our master bedroom (more on that to come soon) and we will be replacing it with a sectional.

Below left – the dining are pre-remodel, and at the tail end of the remodel

So, to help with this lack of seating, we have been on the hunt for a gray sectional to add more seating to our living area. We have some criteria which are making our decision quite difficult! First, I’ll share my “dream” sectional:

Behold, the Jonathan Adler Lampert Sectional. Since this is my “dream” sectional, I’d of course upgrade the fabric to Grade 7 Brussels Charcoal and course get the walnut legs. The total comes to $5500. YIKES. I am sure worth every penny, but just not feasible for us! So began the hunt for something comparable but in our price range. Our criteria?

  • Gray fabric (preferably not microfiber, since in our house it tends to collect dog hair!)
  • Must be a sectional with arms on both ends – not a sofa with a chaise.
  • Must fit in the dimensions of our room (max 110″ on the short wall and max 122″ on the railing wall)
  • Modern style, preferably with some tufting since I am obsessed with tufting
  • Cost less than $2500, but preferably less than 2k

So, with this criteria in mind (and our little tax refund in our pockets) we began the search many months ago. Some runners up (there were really not a lot of options that we found that we really loved):

Baxter Studio Alcoa Gray Sectional $1981.99 at overstock.com and free shipping

This one we *almost* went with. We love how the sections can be rearranged and we love the general look of it. However, we were really hesitant to spend so much money on a sofa we couldn’t test in person, and we were nervous that it would be too firm/uncomfortable. It does have great reviews online though.

Another runner up was the new CB2 Dual Sectional at $1799. However, it was out of the running because it didn’t have an arm on the left side, only a chaise:

We also came really close to getting the Phoenix sectional from Z Gallerie – we saw it in person and really liked it. But, I am so glad we didn’t. It’s pretty boxy (yet comfortable) but doesn’t have the tufting that I love.

Our search for the perfect sectional then took us to the Build a Sofa – where we found THE ONE. The Oliver Sectional for us was the perfect combination of everything we were looking for – we were able to customize it to have arms on both ends, it had the wonderful mid century look that we really wanted (including tufting), the size ended up being just perfect for our space, and we even were able to select our fabric, the firmness of our cushions, and the number of pillows and cushions. We chose medium density and we will have one long bench cushion on each sofa. The selection of fabrics in the basic grade A group was really great – we chose an option called Avalon Gray that is a really nice gray chenille (I think not unlike the Jonathan Adler dream sofa). I sound like an infomercial for Build A Sofa, but I think it is a really cool concept, and affordable for being able to customize a sofa. I will be sure to post photos and a review once it arrives (which is the only downfall – it takes 4-6 weeks). We are really, really hoping to receive it before Xmas since we will be hosting a family gathering at our house. Fingers crossed! When we went in on our first visit we selected all of the options and the total came out to almost $2700 which was just out of our budget (and this was including a $200 off per sectional piece sale). However, last week the saleslady called us to tell us that they would be having a black Friday sale promo for 20% off and free delivery (which previously was $99). So, we went for it! And the total came to $2416 for everything – a little more than we were hoping to spend but still within our budget. We can’t wait to see her in person! 

 


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the big reveal!

14 Nov

So, it all started way back in June! We entered a “Makeover your Social Space”  contest sponsored by American Express and featured on one of my favorite design blogs – Making it Lovely. To our delight (and much surprise), we won!! What did we win, you ask?We were so thrilled to receive 150,000 American Express rewards points (which for those of you who are wondering equates to about $1500 in gift cards). So, armed with a great design board from Nicole we set out to redo our patio space. We didn’t make it very far, however, until we realized that we never would really be happy with our front patio space so long as we had to live with ugly and rotting hunter green original 1972 siding, minty green trim, and vintage Spanish light fixtures and arches that were just not our cup of tea. So, first we set out to rid ourselves of the stucco arched wall. Armed with the equivalent of $800 in gift cards from Home Depot – we put in some sweat equity (which turned into A LOT of sweat equity), demoed the wall in a weekend, and set out to rebuilding it as a modern slat wood privacy wall. When I say “we” as far as rebuilding, I really mean the hubby Mike :) I am not so skilled with carpentry per say, but we will say that I was his “helper” throughout the project. We used our Home Depot gift cards to purchase paint, screws, the actual wood for the frame and for the slats, and the new house numbers. I think we probably saved a couple thousand in labor by doing it ourselves (though we gave up quite a few weekends to build it, and of course during the hottest time of the year).

So, here is what we started with:

Bye bye ugly stucco arches:

Hello awesome modern wood slat wall.

So, with the slat wall completed and new fixtures hung we hated our old green siding even more – especially with the juxtaposition of the new modern slat wall and the old decaying siding. So, we set out to get a small home improvement loan to redo it. This took several months – if you are planning on a home improvement project which involves a loan, even a small one, don’t plan on it taking any less than 2 months. In the end, I think it took close to 3 months.

So, we interviewed several contractors and settled on my uncle – who is a contractor here in Austin, to do the work. We like to keep it in the family, and we knew he would do an amazing job. Which he did. And he did so many extra things that we hadn’t even thought of – like wrapping the rough textured and rotting beams with hardi and removing, painting, and reinstalling the gutters.

So now, it is time for the grand reveal! Once again, here is where we started:

And now!

right side before

after

left side before

after

patio area before

after

front entry before

after!

I LOVE the way the white soffit/fascia looks with the gray beams.

back of house before

after

So, that’s the big reveal! I wish I could say we are done, but we aren’t! Our patio makeover isn’t quite complete because we still have some little and some big things left to do. Here is our list:

  • purchase furnishings for patio with the remainder of the gift cards (west elm and crate and barrel) and set up the patio
  • get a new doorbell (see photo below)
  • hang retro metal mailbox

And we love the vintage original brass peephole that is in our door – but the finish doesn’t really match the chrome finishes we’ve chosen for the outdoor fixtures and doorknob…so there is that situation to deal with…

So, that’s all for now. I’ll post updates as I find furniture for the patio! And I’ll soon be posting some updated house photos and we’re thinking about starting some work on the downstairs den/master bedroom area…we’ve lived with it half done for a very long time now…

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paint tease!

7 Nov

Two posts in one day? What?! I’ve finally got my head above water – crazy wedding season is coming to an end for me this Saturday! I’ve still got shoots and weddings, but at a much more manageable pace from now until the end of the year :)

I still have yet to take pro pictures of the siding remodel all painted, but here is a little teaser pic taken with my ever so convenient Iphone :) The colors aren’t very accurate in this pic (the door is pretty bright but not quite THAT bright)! Professional pics coming later this week, including before and afters!

 

 

austin craigslist blog

7 Nov

If you’re in Austin, you should bookmark/subscribe to this site! She is posting some great Austin Craigslist finds on a daily basis! I know I don’t always have the time to sort thru a bunch of craigslist listings!

Also, if you’re in Austin and in need of a mid century sofa, we’re selling one! Check it out here! This is the sofa that is currently in our very large master bedroom (large enough for a king bed and a living area). We are planning to get a new sectional sofa for our upstairs living area, and move the sofa that is currently in there down to our bedroom. So stay tuned for details on that.

 

 

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siding | before paint

5 Nov

Ok, I have to admit I am about a week behind with photos but I think they are worth the wait! I wanted to share some pics of the siding once they were about done and the painters had started caulking and puttying in preparation for paint!

So, here is where it all started! Way back in JUNE! All of this original paint was selected by the previous owners – definitely not our preference! And we weren’t in love with the spanish style light fixtures or the stucco spanish arch privacy wall, among other things.

So here is the wide shot of the house, all re-sided and ready for paint. One of the most amazing things we ended up doing was wrapping the posts in the front courtyard/patio with hardi board. Previously, they were very ugly cedar beams, and some of them were rotting. They are very expensive and labor intensive to replace, so wrapping  them was the best option. It will extend their life for some time and they work so much better with the new siding since the smooth finish matches the siding.

Right side of the house during work.

Left side of the house during work.

Here is a shot of the front patio in progress.

Next up: paint! My favorite part!! Here is where we started way back when with selecting paint colors (these are Behr colors). In choosing the paint, we stuck with these pretty closely.

And below are our final paint swatches for the house color. We ended up having to use Kelly Moore paint because that is the paint that our painters preferred. So, for the soffit and the fascia we wanted to use the same white that we used on the slat wood wall, which meant they had to color match it. They were able to do that, it worked out well. We aren’t those people who paint tons of swatches before we make a paint decision. We basically went to Kelly Moore, picked out a bunch of gray swatches (for the siding) and yellow swatches (for the front door). Then, we brought the swatches home, narrowed it down to 2 gray swatches, and got samples mixed. Below were the results of those samples – they look really similar (and they are!) but the one on the left has a little more green and the one on the right has a tad bit more blue. They are still both pretty neutral grays. Stay tuned next week for finished pics of the painted siding and to see what colors we chose!

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happy halloween!

31 Oct

Happy Halloween from Moo (aka Shrek) and Linus (aka bad dog) – he’s got the prison tats to prove it. Hahaha.

Wedding season full in effect + travel for some of those weddings + 4 portrait sessions on one week = neglecting the little old home remodeling blog. Ack, I promise I’ll be back with it soon. And I realize I need to really do a full house tour as I never really posted pretty finished photos of the kitchen, and plus we’ve tweaked other areas of the house since the last time I posted pics! So, that is all coming soon as well as photos of our exterior remodel and patio redo. They started painting on Saturday and I am in LOVE. It’s such an amazing difference I can’t wait to share photos. The new siding and paint has modernized the house more than I even thought possible. I can’t wait to share!!

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